Previously on “Top Chef”: the final four contestants went to Parma,to explore both parmigiano reggiano and prosciutto de Parma. Then they had to make two courses, using those ingredients. Melissa won, again, because I think she is the one to beat. She made XO sauce with the prosciutto and the judges love her fusions. Stephanie cooked the prosciutto in both her dishes, which she wasn't technically supposed to do, but it turned out delicious so she is also in. Bryan was told his cooking didn't have any heart or soul, which I think really upset him. But his cooking was deemed better than Kevin's, and Kevin was eliminated. (click for more)
Little recap of the season. This seems like a great final three.
Everyone comes down in the morning to find a note and breakfast. They're to meet Padma after breakfast. Bryan is still upset about being told he has no heart in his cooking. He interviews that he's very innovative and that's not usually associated with “soulful” cooking. Now he's going to slap them in the face with heart and soul. Sure.
Tom is outside with Padma too, and it looks like it's very cold and foggy. Tom makes the contestants share what they've discovered about themselves, which is that they found inner strength and perseverance and not being uptight. Anyway, the final challenge is what it always is: four course meal, must be progressive (not in the sense of “modern” but the courses have to flow into each other). Padma names all the guest judges, who are impressive.
Anyway now it's time for “helpers”. Kevin, Malarkey, and Lee Anne. I know, Lee Anne. But according to Padma, when Gregory said he threw out his back right before they went to Italy, it was way more serious than they implied on the show. So it seems pretty reasonable that Lee Anne is here to take his place. Otherwise it would be the last three people eliminated. Why Lee Anne and not like, Karen or someone? Because if it was a last minute thing maybe she's the only one free.
Stephanie gets to pick first, and she takes Malarkey, because he is enthusiastic. Plus they worked together on Restaurant Wars, so at least she knows how he operates. Bryan takes Kevin, which could be tricky. Kevin got eliminated like, yesterday. Plus after Bryan got that critique about not having soul in his dishes, Kevin's response to his own criticism was all, “this is the most soulful food I've ever cooked”. No one said anything to him about heart and soul, they said it was poorly cooked and too salty. I don't know that I'd work with someone who tried to throw me under the bus but I'm not Bryan. That means Melissa has Lee Anne, which may have been a dumb move on everyone else's part if Melissa is going to make Chinese food. Lee Anne has the most experience with Asian food. Melissa points this out, but she also says that she's never worked with Lee Anne before.
Padma sends them to Florence to shop. Nice. Tom says stick to your guns, and don't make this easy. They give the pairings different cars, I guess so they can chat privately. Melissa is going to work in Asian flavors as expected. She suggests octopus, and Lee Anne starts saying how once she put one in the pressure cooker and it turned out perfect. Melissa doesn't want to be distracted, so hopefully she won't be swayed. Stephanie knows she's the underdog. She is also planning on dessert, and she tells Malarkey she's made every dish on her menu before. Kevin is starting the car ride by saying it's been a long time since he's been a sous chef but he'll do whatever Bryan wants him to do. See, from someone else, I could see that as an admission that they're rusty in terms of prep and stuff. But from Kevin it kind of sounds like “I've been in charge for a really long time but I'll try to take orders I guess”. Bryan wants to do lasagna, because he ate it a lot when he was a kid. Kevin tells him it needs to be modern and “interpretive”. OK but he was told his food has no heart so I'm sure that's what that's about, and also, not listening to that comment from someone who tried to save himself by bragging about how much heart and soul was in his cooking. Kevin offers to break someone's knees. Hilarious.
The market is great. I kind of miss our farmer's market. It's still open, but there are fewer vendors and I'm kind of eh about going. Melissa finds some squab. Actually she says she found “cute birds” that “look like squab” so who knows. She was looking for duck, since that's what she ate at home. I don't think she had a really solid menu before now, but had some ideas like maybe duck if I can find it, and octopus, and now she's saying stuff like “oh those persimmons look good, I can use those”. Menu's coming together. I think Bryan is also buying octopus. Bryan is running out of time and kind of hurrying. There's a segment of Lee Anne asking if Melissa wants various things from whatever this stand has, and Melissa saying no to all of them. It is annoying, and I assume we're to think Lee Anne is getting bossy, but if Melissa doesn't have a set menu, I could see Lee Anne making suggestions, like, maybe Melissa didn't see the cilantro? Or thought about it but now that she sees it, she'll want some? Plus they had an hour to shop so those 10 seconds could have been it for the whole hour. I think everyone finds what they want and seems pleased.
Five hours to cook and prep on Day One. Bryan and Melissa discover they both have octopus but they seem to independently decide not to care. Time for cooking. Melissa is going to make char siu octopus. Chinese BBQ octopus? That sounds amazing. Lee Anne interviews that Melissa is really paring down her recipes, unlike Lee Anne's usual million things on the plate. Malarkey is very impressed with Stephanie's menu, in his Malarkey way. Melissa has spent a lot of time in French kitchens, and she's trying to work that in. Bryan's lasagna is going to be his second course, which seems heavy for the second course. I mean look, everyone has personal stories about all their dishes. Kevin attempts to get in Stephanie's head but it doesn't work at all. She's going to braise all her veal today. And somehow it won't dry out. Malarkey is skeptical, especially because you usually braise with fattier cuts of meat. Melissa is making milk tea tiramisu. I mean I knew I would probably like Melissa's menu the best but come on. Doesn't that sound great? I have eaten so much rice and kimchi and spicy pork during lockdown because that's what I crave instead of fried chicken. Chinese/Italian fusion sounds so good.
Tom Time! Bryan is trying to convince the judges he can make more than modernist cuisine. He's making some kind of stew that Tom makes one of his skeptical faces about. I think maybe he makes it a lot. Stephanie says she's in a good spot. She describes the veal dish, that she learned from someone, and Tom nonchalantly says that he's familiar and he's made that dish before. No pressure. Tom has nothing like that to say to Melissa, because he doesn't know Chinese food. As he leaves, I think he says they have another cookoff later on?
Melissa tastes one of her tiramisu and thinks the cookies are still too crunchy. Maybe not soaked enough? It'll be tight time-wise tomorrow if they have to start over. Won't leaving them in the little ramekins covered in custard soften them up? Or are they not setting? I've never made tiramisu before.
OK so it's not really another cookoff. It's Tom in a very silly black chef's hat, and Gail and Padma, cooking what looks like an amazing feast. When the final three show up, Tom's outside grilling, or futzing with the wood-burning oven, or whatever. They ask him what he's doing, and he's like “cooking” (duh). Immediately they know what's up and someone says “No way”. “Way!” Heh. Melissa was expecting something bad. So inside, there's what looks like a commercial kitchen, where Padma is, and then they go through a door and it looks like a regular house with a regular home kitchen, where Gail is. I'm not sure where they are and why there are two kitchens. Everyone offers to help, and chat, and then they all sit down together which is so nice. This food looks amazing. Bryan jokes that he wishes he won some more money, now that he's got three kids. Heh. Melissa is suddenly realizing she should just grill the squabs, like Tom just did. I both love that they did something nice for the contestants, and also that all the contestants assumed it would be a surprise challenge.
Back at the hotel, Stephanie calls Kristen Kish. The chyron says they're best friends. She gets to tell Kristen she's in the finale, so predictably Kristen freaks out. Stephanie interviews that Kristen is so close to her and her husband that she actually was the officiant at their wedding. Heh. Melissa calls her mom, who is super excited to talk to her and yells that she's proud. Bryan calls his brother, who looks even more like a disreputable sketchy person than he used to. Kind of surprised he didn't call his wife, but Michael does understand what it's like to be in the finale.
Final Day. Three hours to cook. The sous chefs return. Not always a given. The first thing Melissa does is to taste her tiramisu, which is still dry somehow. Lee Anne gets going on redoing them. Melissa is going to grill her squab, and try to get crispy skin without overcooking them. Bryan has to portion things, but he says he works hard under pressure. No one will expect lasagna from him. Stephanie's first course is shrimp wrapped in kataifi, which is shredded phyllo dough. Cooking it in the oven isn't really working the way she wants, but pan frying will make this very time-sensitive. She hopes they don't turn out rubbery. Bryan is making squid ink focaccia, in case you thought he was being too normal. Melissa has some just massive porcinis. They're the size of plates. Bryan and Kevin giggle nervously.
Bryan: beets with tonnato, spicy arugula and bonito aioli. I think it's inspired by another restaurant where he used to work? And their tonnato? Tonnato is a mayonnaise-like sauce flavored with tuna. Stephanie: kataifi wrapped shrimp with tangerine syrup, pickled calabrian chilies and spicy arugula. She says this course reminds her of her late brother. She gets choked up, but then says to lighten it it was because she used to fry him coconut shrimp. Melissa: char siu glazed octopus with fried shallots, fennel, pickled peppers and herbs. She wants to marry Asian flavors with local ingredients. The chef at the end of the table holds up his clean plates. Heh. Padma says if the rest of the meal goes like this, Judges' Table will be very long. The octopus is great, although Tom says maybe it needs some acid. But he knows char siu sauce is sweet. Stephanie perfectly cooked her prawns, which is good. They can see her memories. Bryan's beet dish is wonderful. It's a salad, but a fantastic one. Marcus Samuelsson loved it, which I only mention because I haven't seen him judge for a while and I miss it because I like him a lot.
Melissa is behind, so she and Lee Anne are frantic. Stephanie seems pretty calm. Stephanie: tallegio cappelletti, roasted chicken broth, pumpkin, apple, prosciutto, and celery. Melissa: squash agnolotti, chicken skin, agrodolce cipollinis, Szechuan chili oil, shiso, and squash blossoms. Both cappelletti and agnolotti are filled pastas. Bryan: lasagna with wild boar bolognese, porcini duxelles, Tuscan kale, and ricotta bechamel. The only person who gets to speak here (or the only person they show) is Bryan, who says that a lot of people at this table know him for modern food, and he wanted to show something personal. So he talks about his mom working and still making scratch meals. Everyone made their pasta correctly. And they of course love that Bryan made something personal, and they can feel it. Stephanie had a perfectly balanced dish, elegant. Melissa's dish was very complex, and Marcus says it's completely original food, which is very difficult.
Both Bryan and Melissa are grilling, but luckily they don't have to share the grill. Although it is raining. Melissa says the fire is really low, but that's good for her because it will let her cook the squab properly. Back inside Malarkey has a flare-up, and when they look that piece of veal is burnt. And Stephanie thinks it's dry. Initially she asks if she should put it back in the oven, but almost immediately rejects that. Malarkey says maybe just put a lot of sauce. I don't know if that will work. But she's happy with it. Melissa: grilled squab with persimmon, porcini, and fermented black bean sauce. Bryan: blackened monkfish with “cacciucco” broth, octopus, calamari, and squid ink focaccia. Cacciucco is similar to cioppino, which is a seafood stew (not chowder). Stephanie: milk braised veal breast, Parisian gnocchi, and lemon rosemary sauce. So Parisian gnocchi is not made with potatoes but with pate a choux dough, the same dough you make eclairs and crème puffs out of. No personal stories. Melissa's squab makes people like squab who don't. It's perfectly balanced and complex, and then Marcus says the porcinis are “a foie gras reference” which Tom enthusiastically agrees with and they call it brilliant. I have no idea what they are talking about. The veal is overcooked, sadly. And the gnocchi aren't crispy. They do know it was a lot of work. Bryan was really pushing himself, and everything was cooked really well. But while the focaccia was a good idea, it's too rich to soak up broth properly.
Stephanie is telling Malarkey it's going to come down to dessert because it's so close, not knowing that they didn't like her veal and so it's not actually that close. Not for her anyway, sadly. Melissa's tiramisu set up and she's happy with it. Bryan vows this will be the final dish the judges will have from him on Top Chef. Bryan: malted chocolate mousse, hazelnut ice cream, coffee and cardamom soil. Stephanie: sticky toffee pudding, hazelnuts and yogurt ice cream. She says she used to have a donut pop-up and that was a popular flavor. Melissa: Hong Kong milk tea tiramisu. The table applauds, group hug, and then off to clean. Bryan started with “the earth” and ended with “the earth”. So he had a chocolate shell around his mousse, and Tom was expecting a liquid center. The shell was maybe too thick but the flavors were good. Stephanie's cake was well done, and I think people weren't super impressed but it's a comfort food. The tiramisu needed maybe one more layer of bitterness or a spice or something. But it respected tradition. She made it from the heart and this guy is tearing up about it. Malarkey tries to holler that it's too close, they are going to need one more dish. Heh.
Judges' Table. Everyone was so impressed with the dishes and everyone put themselves on the plate. Melissa has had the idea of char siu octopus for a while. It was beautiful looking, and a great start to her menu. Stephanie knew she had to start with a food memory, if she was going to tell her story in the meal. Gail is moved to tears with the story about her brother, and they tell her it was cooked perfectly and the other ingredients all melded together. Padma says she loves the tonnato that Bryan was referencing, and he made it better. It made everyone excited for the rest of the meal, and Gail says that “above everyone else's first course” it said he was just getting started.
All the pasta in the second courses was great. Stephanie's broth was dense and rich. Bryan made a bold statement, and Tom promises he erased that criticism from the last episode. Melissa is blending two seemingly disparate cultures. Yeah they don't have a lot to say about this.
Bryan's monkfish was a little dry, but the shrimp and the other seafood was perfect. The bread was dramatic, but it just didn't taste that good. Stephanie's gnocchi was too much, so the dish wasn't that balanced. She admits she struggled with the dish. They do not show any criticism of her dry veal. Melissa's dish gave Padma a “deep feeling of being here”. Everyone at the table loved her mushrooms.
Strong desserts, for a course that historically people struggle with on this show. Stephanie's sticky toffee pudding was well done and balanced. Bryan also used the bitterness of the chocolate to his advantage. They tell Melissa her dessert made someone cry.
Everyone talks about how glad they are that they had the chance to be here and they love to share their stories. Stephanie says she was not in a great place when she got to LA, and she hurt a lot of people by being sad? OK, if people were on you to stop grieving, that's not cool. But she says this is a way to say she's OK.
Gail thinks Bryan's first course set them up the best for what was coming. He has a slight edge. All three pasta dishes were amazing, and they all had good points. The broth Stephanie made was delicious, Bryan's lasagna was unexpected but done very well, and Melissa made an exciting dish. Third course, Melissa's porcinis were mind-blowing, but Bryan had a delicate broth. Clearly Stephanie struggled with course three. Dessert was very strong all around. Stephanie's dessert was very her. Melissa took something very traditional and took a giant leap and it worked. Bryan had good textures and balance.
Tom tells the other judges that Stephanie has probably grown the most this season out of everyone. Bryan embraced what he was but also let himself go. Honestly there's a video of the final three singing Boyz II Men, wearing sunglasses and bomber jackets, and that is not a thing I thought Bryan would ever do, let alone allow to be on the internet. Melissa has a very specific story, but she pulls it off. She knows what she's doing.
So when they come back out the sous chefs are there, and Gregory and spouses and Melissa's mom. Tricky, to have her call home yesterday (supposedly) and now here she is. No one sees their loved ones at first. Tom says everyone has grown as a chef and as a person. The journey is more important than the destination. And other things of that nature. The winner is Melissa! Woo! Her mom bursts into tears. Aww. Melissa says in Boston she was doing it for everyone else, win her father's approval. This was for herself. Stephanie says she still accomplished what she wanted to do here. Bryan has now been in three Top Chef finales, and he's the only one. No more, though. Promise.
That was a really great season. Just strong all around and any of this final three would have been fine as a winner. I'm not sure when we'll get more Top Chef, since they normally would be filming right now. Thank you for reading and sticking with me! As always during the summer, if you have any bad reality shows you'd like to see me recap, let me know. I did 90 Day Fiance last year, and I won't do that again, but we're talking that level of “bad”. See you next season hopefully!
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